Tang after surgery

In June of 2006, our cat Tang was diagnosed with Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma, a really nasty cancer caused by a vaccine he received. The tumor formed on his right rear leg (where the vaccine was administered), so the best chance to save him was to amputate the leg. A year later, he’s still doing great!

Here are some videos of Tang only two weeks after his amputation surgery. As you can see, cats get along fine with just three legs!

Here’s Tang’s normal walking pace. (download)

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Running with three legs is no problem, as long as food is involved! (download)

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Jumping up on the chair is a piece of cake too! (download)

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Section Golf Outing

Last week our boss was good enough to give the us afternoon off to celebrate recent project successes. We had a picnic lunch and played 9 holes of golf at the local par 3 course. Two thirds of us had never played before, but most everyone picked it up pretty quickly. We played best-ball, so there wasn’t a lot of individual pressure!

One of the highlights for me was Vijay screaming like a little girl when he almost sank a 50 foot chip shot 🙂 He did hit a 30-footer though and he took most of the pictures, so I won’t make too much fun of him.

Check out the photos.

I’m dangerous after 9 o’clock

I don’t like to stay late at work on a regular basis. If I stay late, that’s less time I get to see Evan before bed time, and if I stay too late I don’t get to see him at all. As a result, when I need to work extra hours, I save them up and work 15-16 hour days. If I’m going to miss Evan’s bedtime, I might as well miss it by a long shot. That’s what I’m doing this week (thanks to all the extra non-project work I’ve had the “opportunity” to do).

The problem is the system on our doors at work. You have to wave your badge in front of a reader in order to get in or out of the building. I’ve left around 10pm the past few nights, but I don’t have badge access that late. Apparently, at some point in the evening, I go from being a trusted and valued employee to a suspected thief, vandal, etc. As a result, I have to hit the call button and ask the security staff to let me out. Tonight, the remote system wasn’t working. There’s no better way to cap off a 15 hour day than to stand by the door, mere yards from your car, waiting for the 2nd shift security guard to cross the entire building to come let you out…

The resilience of animals

We took a camping trip this past weekend, and arranged for family to come check in on Tang. We kept him caged up still so he wouldn’t hurt himself while we were gone. Upon returning, I hurried back to see him. Something changed while we were gone – he became himself again. That shine was back in his eyes, his fur was growing back, and he was ready to come out. We let him out, worried that the litter box, stairs, bed, etc. would give him problems.

Within the first 15 minutes, he had traveled down the steps, found his regular litterbox, climbed the steps and jumped up on the bed. Even the baby gates gave him little trouble. He’s very glad to get back to all his favorite spots: on our bed, in my chair and on our laps (where he’s sitting right now :))

I imagine some folks will find these entries searching for information when their cat is facing some tough times. If you’re facing the decision whether to amputate a beloved pet’s leg to try to save him or her, my advice to you is don’t give a second thought as to how your pet will cope with only three legs. I read somewhere that cats have three legs and a spare, and I can assure you that’s true.

Good news for Tang

We got the results of Tang’s biopsy today, and the results were actually pretty good. The biopsy did determine that the cancer was fibrosarcoma as they thought. They gave his prognosis as “favorable” provided that the cancer had not previously metastatisized and that the tumor had been completely removed. Test results show that both of those conditions are true. They checked the “surgical margins” and they were clean, which means that the tumor had not spread past the parts they removed.

Tang is recovering nicely. He’s gotten pretty good at hopping around on three legs when we let him out of his enclosure. He’s still eating and drinking well, and his fur is regrowing nicely. I took some pictures and thought about posting some pictures, but it’s still not a very pretty sight. I’ll post some when his fur grows back.

Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.

Tang is home from surgery

After a lot of research and consulting with the vets, we decided the best thing to do for Tang was to have them amputate his leg as they suggested. His surgery was yesterday and he got to come home today. We’ve got him in a large enclosure in the bedroom right now, since we’re supposed to keep him from jumping up on stuff and hurting himself for a few days. It’s amazing how well he’s adapting already. He can hop, though a little clumsily, from one end of his cage to the other already and he’s eating and drinking just fine. He also wants his big bare belly rubbed 🙂

It’ll be several days before we hear the results of the biopsy, and regardless of the results his prognosis is still uncertain, but we’re hoping for the best. We also learned today that the company that manufactured the vaccine that made him sick will pay for a good portion of his treatment if the biopsy indicates that the cancer is related to that vaccine. Even if they don’t though, I’m glad we did the surgery. He’s been a good friend to us, and no matter what happens, I’ll be able to live with myself knowing we did the best we could for him.

Softball for beginners

Over the weekend, we put together an impromptu softball game. A number of my coworkers from India expressed an interest in learning how to play baseball, so what better way to learn than to try it. About 8 people showed up, including my brother, his fiance, Vijay, Shankar, Sundar and a few of their friends.

It was about 95 degrees and very humid, but we took a little batting practice and played a little bit of a game, letting teams of two bat for an inning each. Most of the Indian gentleman picked up the fundamentals pretty well. A couple of years ago, my work group got together for a game of cricket and the results were similar; it seems the basic skills carry over pretty well from one game to the other.

Afterwards, we played a round of frisbee golf, which was much better, considering there is no running and you get to play in the shade! The course we played at was pretty narrow and mostly followed a creek, but we only tossed a disc in the water once (yes, it was me…) We did get a disc stuck up in the tree once (about 40 feet off the ground), but a couple of minutes throwing a water bottle at it solved that problem.

A few pictures are available on the photos page.

Mazda5 real world gas mileage

The longer we have this car, the happier I am with it. We’ve traveled with 6 people a number of times, hauled quite a few big loads and taken a few trips. It’s pretty well broken-in now, so I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of it’s fuel economy. We drive pretty aggressively around town, so we’re seeing about 22mpg, which I don’t think is all that bad.

On the highway is where the car shines. On our recent trip to Indianapolis (200 miles one way) we got two good data points. On the first tank, which was 200 miles on the interstate and about 60-70 miles around town, we got 29.5mpg (measured by filling the tank, not using a mileage computer). For the return trip, I filled up right before leaving and as soon as we arrived, for a pure highway tank. This tank showed 33mpg! Not bad for a 6-seater!

While I’m at it, I might as well share my records for my previous vehicles for comparison purposes. The first number is the overall mileage and the second is the best tank reported. All models are automatic transmission except where noted.

  • 2000 Dodge Dakota Club Cab 2WD 3.9L V6: 15.48/20.85
  • 2001 Saturn SL1 1.9L SOHC 4cyl: 28.67/39.49
  • 2003 MINI Cooper 1.6L 4cyl with 5spd manual: 27.36/31.84
  • 2004 Dodge Dakota Club Cab 4WD 3.7L V6: 14.57/18.19
  • 2004 Honda CR-V FWD 2.4L 4cyl: 22.70/26.92
  • 2005 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4WD 4.7L V8 (current): 13.27/15.50
  • 2006 Mazda Mazda5 2.3L 4cyl (current): 23.05/32.95

It worth noting that the current truck almost never sees any highway miles unless it’s towing the camper, and it hasn’t even had its first oil change yet. I hope that one improves! It’s also interesting that the Mazda5 had a 33mpg tank whereas the Mini never saw 32mpg… It’s also outpacing the CR-V, but I doubt anything will top the old Saturn! My sister drives that car now. And yes, for the record, I’m aware that we trade cars too often.